How a trip to Cork at a difficult time inspired Caroline O'Donoghue's latest novel

'You can give up on your city, but your city never truly gives up on you'

Caroline O'Donoghue

Some years ago, when I hadn’t been living out of Ireland for very long, I was sent an online article titled “23 WAYS TO TELL THAT YOU’RE PURE CORK BAI”.

The list was obviously hastily compiled, and had all the usual suspects on it: “You’re weak for a can of Tanora”, “you never question the wisdom of Roy Keane”, “you remember exactly where you were when we beat Kerry in the Munster final”. It said that Cork people were always talking about being from Cork, that Cork people thought Cork was the best city in the world, and that the best way to spot a Cork person was to just listen and wait for the ‘I’m from Caark’.